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I should do more pumpkin recipes, they match so well with my overall color scheme. As with most tea breads, the only trick to this is avoiding over-beating. Otherwise it’s a snap. Begin by preheating your oven to 350 (or 375 if you’re using small 1-pound pans). Apply butter or cooking spray to your pans.

Sift your flour, spices, leaveners and salt together in a bowl.

Combine the pumpkin and eggs in a bowl…

…and stir.

Next combine the oil and sugar in the bowl of a mixer.

Beat for about 30 seconds on medium, then add the pumpkin mixture.

Beat for another 30 seconds, then add half the flour mixture.

Stir on low for about 20 seconds until you can see only a little remaining flour. Scrape the bowl down.

Add the remaining flour mixture.

Stir and scrape.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pans. If you’re using larger pans, divide the batter evenly. For small 1-pound pans, which I’m using here, it’s easier to weigh the batter out. Put the pans on a scale and add about 1 lb. 4 ounces to each.

Bake them 40 minutes, rotate the pans in the oven and bake another 10 minutes or so until a skewer or sharp knife inserted into the bread comes out clean. For bigger loaves, bake about an hour, rotate and bake another 10 minutes. The finished loaves look about like so:

Once they’ve cooled about half an hour, loosen the loaves with a butter knife…

…and knock them out by tapping the corners of the pans on the counter.

This pumpkin tea bread is moist and flavorful — one of the few things I make that both my girls absolutely love. Like most tea breads, it combines the virtues of low effort and large payoff quite elegantly. I like to make all my tea breads in small “1 pound” loaf pans as I believe the end result is not only more convenient but less dry. However I’ve included directions for conventional loaf pans as well.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (375 if using smaller pans). Prepare your pans by applying butter or cooking spray (either two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans or three smaller “1 pound” loaf pans). Sift together the flour, spices, leaveners and salt. Next, combine the pumpkin and eggs in a bowl and stir them together.

Combine the oil and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle (beater) and beat on medium for about 30 seconds, until well-combined. Add the pumpkin mixture and beat about another 30 seconds until combined. Add half the flour mixture and stir on low until mostly combined. Scrape the bowl. Add the remaining flour mixture, stir and scrape again.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pans. Bake large loaves about 1 hour 10 minutes, rotating the pans after 50 minutes. Bake the smaller loaves about 50 minutes, rotating the pans after 40 minutes. Cool the loaves on a wire rack. Loosen the loaves around the edges with a butter knife and knock them out by tapping the corners of the pans on a countertop.